Soitec announces consolidated sales of 80.5 million Euros for Q3 2007-2008
• Q3 wafer sales stable sequentially at constant exchange
• Anticipated sequential improvement in sales for H2 at constant exchange confirmed
• Anticipated activity in H2 with cost reductions may just offset the effect on margins from the weak Dollar
Bernin, France, 21 January 2008 – Soitec, the SOI (Silicon on Insulator) leader, announced consolidated sales of 80.5 million Euros for the third quarter of the financial year 2007-2008. In line with expectations, sustained demand for wafers continued providing stable wafer sales. The weakening US dollar however resulted in a small revenue decrease of 3.6% sequentially. For the first nine months of the financial year, Group sales totalled 232.5 million Euros, down by 15.4% versus last year. For the same period the Dollar was strongly unfavourable and fell by 8.5% against the Euro.
| Sales (Euros millions) | 2007-2008 | 2006-2007 | Change |
| First Quarter | 68.5 | 85.7 | -20.0% |
| Second Quarter | 83.5 | 89.7 | -6.8% |
| Third Quarter | 80.5 | 99.6 | -19.2% |
| TOTAL 9 months | 232.5 | 275.0 | -15.5% |
Total wafer sales stable sequentially
Total wafer sales for the third quarter, stable at constant exchange, amounted to 77.6 million Euros. We continue to see a significant industry move in favour of demand for 300mm with sequential growth of 14.3% or 20.3% at constant exchange. 300mm represents 82% of total wafer sales in the quarter. Consistent with the transfer to 300mm production by the Group's largest customer, sales from smaller sizes declined sequentially by 38.4% or 36.8% at constant exchange.
As a result of the low level of demand in the first quarter of the year in combination with the Dollar softening, total wafer sales for the first nine months were down by 15.2% but this is nonetheless limited to 8.0% at constant exchange rates.
The contribution to consolidated sales for the third quarter from other activities, Picogiga, Tracit and licensing was 2.9 million Euros and for the first nine months, their sales amounted to 3.7, 1.3 and 3.0 million Euros respectively.
Anticipated sequential improvement in sales for H2 at constant exchange confirmed
Based on the latest business trends, customer information, and new product introductions the Group confirms that it expects sales for the second half of the year to show sequential improvement at constant exchange. However the underlying growth in sales in H2 is likely to be offset by the unfavourable impact of the Dollar.
The anticipated level of activity in H2 and the cost reduction measures that have been taken are expected just to compensate the negative effect on margins from the Dollar.
Recent development
The Group recently demonstrated its confidence for the medium-term, by redeeming the remaining 2004-2009 convertible bonds in circulation, for a total of 14.0 million Euros. The Group reiterates that its financial structure remains perfectly healthy with some 190 million Euros of cash at the end of December 2007.
Agenda
Fourth-quarter sales for the financial year 2007-2008 will be published on 21 April 2008 after the closure of the Paris Bourse.
About Soitec:
Soitec is the world's leading supplier of engineered substrates for advanced microelectronics. The Group produces a wide range of advanced materials, especially silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers based on its Smart Cut™ technology—the first high-volume application for this proprietary technology. SOI is currently seen as the platform of the future, paving the way to higher-performance, faster, and more economical chips.
Soitec currently produces over 80% of SOI wafers. Headquartered at Bernin in France, with two high-volume production units on site, Soitec also has offices in the US, Japan, and Taiwan, and a new production site is in the process of customers qualification in Singapore.
The Group has two other divisions: Picogiga International at Les Ulis in Paris and Tracit Technologies in Bernin. Picogiga is specialized in the development and manufacture of engineered substrates, from group III-V epitaxial semiconductor wafers and gallium nitride (GaN) wafers to composite substrates for the manufacture of high-frequency electronics and optoelectronic devices. Tracit is specialized in thin-film layer transfer technologies, used to manufacture engineered substrates for power ICs and microsystems, as well as generic circuit transfer technology for applications such as image sensors and 3D integration. Shares for the Soitec Group are listed on Euronext Paris.
Soitec, Smart Cut, and UNIBOND are trademarks of S.O.I.TEC Silicon On Insulator Technologies.
For all information, please contact:
Iain Murray
Financial Director
Tel: +33 4 76 92 75 14
email: investors@soitec.fr
Olivier Brice
Investor Relations – Financial Communication
Tel: +33 4 76 92 93 80
email: olivier.brice@soitec.fr